Generic lighting control consoles serve the purpose of controlling lighting systems, such as are used in theaters or on concert stages. Routinely, these lighting systems comprise a plurality of lighting devices, for example stage spotlights, wherein the lighting devices on their part in many cases can also be changed between a plurality of lighting states, for example different colors. These different lighting states are stored and controlled in the lighting program of the lighting control console by means of programmed parameters. In this context, conventional lighting systems can comprise up to several thousands of lighting devices. To be able to control such complex lighting systems, generic lighting control consoles are equipped with a digital processor, which allows for digital data and signal processing. To store the program data, provision is furthermore made for a digital memory, which makes it possible in particular to archive lighting programs.
To program the lighting program or to control the lighting program during its application flow, the operator must input operating commands. These may, for example, consist in the selection of a specific lighting device or the setting of a specific lighting parameter. To input these operating commands, mechanical operating elements, for example pushbuttons, rotary controls or slide controls, are available at the known lighting control consoles. Here, the operating commands assigned to the individual operating elements can be changed by means of suitable menu changeovers so as to be able to program and control complex lighting programs.
From the field of computer technology, display devices exhibiting a touch-sensitive sensor surface are also known. Such touch screens simultaneously provide the functionality of a user input interface and an output interface. By touching the touch-sensitive sensor surface on the display device the user is able to select specific operating commands.
The known lighting control consoles exhibiting display devices having a touch-sensitive sensor surface are afflicted with the drawback that the intuitive input of operating commands is strongly limited. In particular, inputs in which the input falls within a specific parameter setting range cannot be changed intuitively.